Don’t Let Allergies Cramp Your Style

Spring is here and that means many great things are soon to come, but any Midwesterner knows that not all things Spring brings are so great. I don’t know about you, but allergies come to mind for me. Every year around this time I suffer from itchy, watery eyes, severe sneezing, and nasal congestion. And my first reaction to any of these symptoms is to book it down to the drug store and stock up on the latest and greatest in allergy meds. The downside to these meds for me is the side effects, not to mention they get really expensive, really quick! Recently, I decided to look into other allergy remedies and came across a few very interesting ones you may want to give a try the next time you’re feeling stuffy.

Halotherapy

Halotherapy, also known as salt therapy or salt rooms/caves, uses a halo generator to crush pharmaceutical grade salt into an aerosol which vents the salt into the room. The process dates back to the 11th or 12th centuries, when people would visit the natural salt caves of Eastern Europe to heal their ailments. According to an article from intothegloss.com, in the 1840s, Dr. Feliks Boczkowski, a Polish doctor who was treating miners, started to study salt’s medicinal properties. He had noticed that while coal miners were plagued with all kinds of respiratory problems, salt miners were emerging with pristine lungs and no health complaints. He published a book on his findings and a few years later, one of his pupils founded the first salt clinic near Kraków, Poland.

The good news is, since then, salt caves have appeared all over the world; so naturally, I was delighted to learn one was going to be opening up in my neck of the woods soon too. Just in time to head off the infiltration of my Spring allergies.

Earlier this week, I had the opportunity to meet with Josh Giles, owner and operator of Total Rejuvenation to discuss some of the health benefits from the “salt cave” services he offers.

According to Josh, when the pharmaceutical salt is released into the air in the room, the salt enters your respiratory system to help kill anything in your lungs such as mucus. This salt has also been shown to help treat seasonal allergies, asthma, common cold and flu prevention, and sinus infections. It also works to treat several skin conditions such as eczema and psoriasis, as well.

But wait, we are always told that too much salt is bad right? Well in the case of halotherapy, salt is inhaled versus ingested; thus, it is processed differently in the body. No need to worry about bloating or swelling here.

Although there are very few studies that have been conducted to validate the use of halotherapy, there are many who swear by it. It has become quite popular with marathon runners who have seen increases and improvements in lung capacity, as a result of the use of salt caves. Dog owners of allergy prone breeds have even begun treating their dogs to halotherapy services.

For roughly $40 per 45-minute session, you can experience all the amazing health benefits of the therapy. Even if you don’t have anything ailing you, salt caves are known to be great for meditation or simply relaxation while sitting back and letting the salt work its magic! Now if you’d rather save a few bucks to put towards a new pencil skirt, we definitely can’t say we’d stop you, but perhaps this next allergy remedy may be more your style.

Onions

This onion chatter all started a few weeks ago, when WRITTEN Founder, Emily, returned from the gym one day stating that her trainer was boasting the unusual remedy. When I heard about onions as a possible remedy for seasonal allergies I thought that might be stretching the truth just a bit. I mean, I love using onions in all of my food recipes, and a burger isn’t a burger without caramelized onions, but onions as a remedy for allergies? Nonetheless, I was intrigued and decided to look into it. What’s the worst thing that could happen right?

According to founder and blogger of healthybliss.net, Jennifer Thompson, using onions as a form of medicine goes back to the early 20th century when Europeans used onions to successfully fight off the recurring Black Death plague. Ok, that got me listening. 

Articles from both shape.com and everydayroots.com cited onions as an easy at-home remedy for fighting those pesky seasonal allergies. Primarily they attribute the reason being onions are high in an antioxidant called quercetin. Quercetin is essentially natures anti-histamine; when produced by the body, studies have shown it reducing the symptoms of allergies.

Everydayroots.com suggests drinking a nice tall glass of red onion water, as needed. I can’t imagine going out in public after this in fears I might send people running in the streets Godzilla-style, so another option would just be to take an over-the-counter quercetin supplement.

Perhaps the most outlandish use of onions? Have you ever put them in your socks? Ok good, I thought I might be the only one who hadn’t! According to David Benjamin, founder of healthywildandfree.com, the bottom of your feet are powerful and direct access points to internal organs in your body, therefore, when applied to skin topically, onions kill germs and bacteria. Even more important is that the phosphoric acid (the substance that makes you cry) found in onions help to purify your blood and kill any bacteria or germs that may be festering, waiting to give you the flu or any other illness.

Now I get, some of this may seem a bit farfetched and I’m not telling you to dump all your drugs down the toilet, stop visiting your physician, and walk around with an onion necklace around your neck, but seriously, why not give natural treatments a try? You’ve got nothing to lose and it might be just the trick to conquer those allergies once and for all and put those mouth-breather days behind you…never a good look.

Finally, for those of you reading this thinking, I thought this was a fashion blog. You’re absolutely right! In the spirit of that, we thought we’d indulge you with some of the most fantastic onion fashion you will find. Not necessarily proven to remedy allergies, but definitely proven to turn heads.

This whimsical onion design from Veritee Hill, took top honors during the Project Subway segment of Nolcha Fashion Week.

Leave it to Dolce & Gabbana to work a red onion print into their ready-to-wear collection. This organza rendition from the Spring 2012 collection sold out everywhere.

If you have any other interesting remedies you try when you feel yourself coming under the weather, we’d love to hear about them! Share with us below.

WRITTEN Contributor: Tyrin Wages

The post Don’t Let Allergies Cramp Your Style appeared first on Written.